Chapter 4

Holly

My fingers were ice cold as my grip on my phone tightened. The text message glaring up at me was filling my brain with wild, terrified thoughts, and my stomach was clenching with nerves. It was the first message I had received from Kent since fleeing with Luke, and it was just as angry and menacing as I had expected it to be:

“You selfish bitch. How dare you take my son away from me. You know how bad this

is going to make you look to the lawyers when I come after your ass for custody?

That’s right. You’re going to look like a terrible mother. Luke needs me. He’s mine.

You’re both mine.”

I put the phone down face-first on Kim’s sofa and chewed the inside of my cheek until my mouth was filled with the taste of copper. Was Kent right? Did me running away from him compromise my case?

The thought of Kent having full custody of Luke made me instantly nauseous. He was not fit to be a father. He never had been. His anger always got the best of him, and his inability to refuse a drink only made things worse.

Luke deserved so much more than the life Kent would ever be able to give him.

Surely, the lawyers would see that?

I covered my eyes with one hand as I leaned forward, pressing my elbows to my thighs as I sat cross-legged in the corner of the sofa. Just as I thought I was going to lose control, the sound of tiny feet thumping down the hallway alerted me to Luke’s arrival before he came hurtling around the corner and threw himself down on the couch beside me in a fit of giggles.

“Oh, hey there, little man!” I cried, reaching out and tickling his ribs as he twisted around to sit with his back against the sofa cushions. “Did you have a good nap?”

Luke shrieked with laughter and shimmied away from my tickling fingers. When he caught his breath, he nodded. “Yep. I like my new bedroom.”

“Me too. Your Auntie Kim sure did a good job.”

“Someone talking about me?” Kim called as she poked her head out of the doorway to the kitchen.

“Mommy says you did a good job.”

Kim’s eyebrows wiggled. “I sure did. Had to make sure it was perfect for my favorite nephew.”

“Only nephew,” Luke corrected, sliding off the couch and landing heavily on the rug covering Kim’s hardwood floors. He reached for one of his G.I. Joes and began playing.

I stood and kissed the top of his head. “I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me, okay? Make sure Joe goes on a fun mission today!”

Luke grinned and nodded, but I didn’t hold his attention for long. Before I even ducked into the kitchen, he was already stooped over his toy and making explosion sounds with his lips. I heard poor Joe go flying across the carpet.

Kim looked up from stirring her cup of coffee when I walked into the kitchen. “Want a cup? I brewed extra.”

“Sure,” I said, going to the coffee machine and filling up a mug. I sipped it black, just how I liked it, and leaned on the counter. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Of course.” Kim stood across from me and matched my stance as she leaned on the opposite counter. She crossed one ankle over the other and wrapped both hands around her mug as she inhaled the aroma of her coffee. She’d been drinking the stuff for as long as I could remember, since she was thirteen, I thought.

“I got a text from Kent a few minutes ago.”

“Oh.” Kim’s mouth twitched. “Shit.”

“Yeah. It wasn’t pleasant, and he mentioned lawyers and custody.” I dropped my voice so Luke couldn’t overhear our conversation. “Which scares me a lot. What if he has a point? I mean, I did up and leave with his son without a word. That will look bad in court, won’t it?”

“So will the trashed bedroom of a six-year-old kid.”

“Fair.”

Kim sighed and uncrossed her ankles. “He’s just trying to scare you, Holly. You know he’s used this tactic before. He’s manipulative, and he’ll say whatever he thinks is going to trick you into going back to him. But not this time. This time was a clean break. You’re done for good.” I sensed a bit of hesitation from my sister. “Right?”

“Yes. For good. I promise. I can’t go back to him now.”

“He’s not going to get lawyers involved. He’s a bounty hunter. He’ll want to steer clear of them for his own good. Eventually, he’ll realize you aren’t coming back, and he’ll have to cope with that. It’s not your problem. Don’t even answer him.”

“Wasn’t planning on it.”

“Good.” Kim smiled. “Because I’m really enjoying having you and Luke here. This place was pretty lonely. And I have plenty of lost time to make up for with my nephew, which makes me happy to babysit him while you work. Which reminds me, don’t you have to leave soon?”

I glanced at the clock. “Yeah. Shit. Thanks for the pep talk. I needed it.”

I grabbed my bag and made sure my uniform was inside before ducking into the living room to kiss the top of Luke’s head and say goodbye. He wrapped his arms around my waist and clung to me for a good thirty seconds.

“I’ll be home soon, kiddo. You and Auntie Kim will have a fun night. I hear you might even be having macaroni for dinner.”

Luke looked up at me, eyes a little wet, and smiled. I knew he hated when I had to leave. He wasn’t used to it. I had been a stay-at-home mom with him back in Philadelphia, and there had never been any real reason for us to ever have to be apart. But life was different now, and even though Luke understood enough of why I had to go to work, I knew it still hurt him.

“I love you,” I told him as I kissed his head one more time. He let me go, and I hurried down the hall. Kim passed me a to-go thermos filled with my leftover coffee and wished me a good day. Sipping the coffee on the forty minute bus ride made me incredibly thankful to have a sister like Kim. In all the years I’d been with Kent, he’d never done something as simple and thoughtful as that.

The Roost was busy but not intolerably so. I had enough tables where I knew I would make enough in tips to justify being away from Luke.

It was hard serving tables of young families. I wanted to be one of those mothers who was able to take her son out to a fun dinner and not have to worry about where the money was coming from or where I would have to make it up. I wanted those carefree family moments. I would do anything for them.

I had to consciously remind myself that I was working toward having those moments of my own as I approached my newest table.

I could see the back of the father. He was broad shouldered and powerful looking, not the sort of man I was used to seeing at The Roost. He had a head of thick, dark red hair, and when he turned his face to the side a bit, I could see that his beard was as dense and rich. The woman across from him was beautiful with long blond hair that hung in effortless curls around her tanned shoulders. She wore a white T-shirt and blue jeans, and in the booster seat beside her was a little girl no older than three, playing with her place mat and crayons.

I drew up at the edge of the table with my notebook open and ran through my opening lines as I always did.

“Good evening and welcome to The Roost. My name is—”

“Holly?”

I blinked and looked at the man who had spoken my name.

At first, I didn’t recognize him. Then, the blue eyes and the intense stare triggered something in my memory, a flashback of a young man with a wild smile trying to convince me to do another shot with him.

“Jeremiah?” I asked, letting my hands fall to my sides as my face stretched in a wide smile. “How long has it been?”

Jeremiah chuckled deeply in his chest and rubbed the back of his head. “It’s Axel now, and it’s been a while. What, six years?”

“Six, I think.”

“Six. Damn.” He looked me up and down. “You look great. You haven’t changed a bit.”

I blushed and hated myself for it. Jeremiah—or Axel, as he had corrected me— was a good-looking man with a presence unlike any I had ever felt. Well, almost.

I shook my head and turned to the woman he was sitting with. “Sorry,” I said, “I’m being rude. My name is Holly. Jere—Axel and I went to high school together.”

The blond woman smiled, and I was struck by how gorgeous she was. She held her hand out and shook mine. Her grip was strong, a lot stronger than I had expected. “I’m Ellie, Axel’s fiancée. And you weren’t being rude. He was the one who should have introduced you.” Ellie shot Axel a scowl that made me laugh. She was his match that was for certain.

Axel rolled his shoulders and blew off the comment. Then he pointed his chin to the little girl beside Ellie. “And believe it or not, Holly, that’s my daughter. Hanna, this is Holly, one of daddy’s old friends.”

Hanna looked up, and I was paralyzed by her bright green stare. “Hi, Hanna,” I said, “Nice to meet you.”

Hanna smiled shyly before returning to her coloring.

I crossed my arms and looked at Axel. “You know, if someone had told me six years ago that you’d be a father, I’d have told them to get stuffed. But it suits you.”

Axel chuckled and almost looked embarrassed. “Thank you, Holly. But forget about me. How are you?”

I opened my mouth to tell him I was good. That was my go-to. Regardless of how I felt, I always blew off my feelings by telling everyone that I was “good.” But Axel had been part of my life before things really fell apart, and he had always been someone I trusted.

I looked around the restaurant. “I’m working at The Roost and wearing a shirt that says ‘Ask me about our specials.’ How do you think?”

Ellie snorted and covered her mouth. “Sorry. But I think I like you.”

I found myself laughing and rolled my eyes at my own predicament. “It pays the bills for now, though. I just moved back here, and it wasn’t easy finding a new job.”

“You move back alone, or did Kent come with you?” Axel asked. He had always been forward, so I ignored my surprise at his question. He hadn’t changed at all. I had.

“Nope. Just me. He’s back in Philadelphia.”

Axel nodded as if he approved. “In that case, you know what you should do? You should reach out to Jax. I bet he’d be pretty stoked to hear from you. You kids have a lot of catching up to do.”

My cheeks burned as my brain was flooded with thoughts of Jax.

“Um, yeah, maybe. Listen, my boss is going to rip me a new asshole if I don’t take your orders and move on to my other tables. What do you want for dinner?”

I took their orders and was glad I had my notepad and pen because I forgot every damn thing they said. I was consumed with thoughts of Jax.

Jax convincing me to get on the back of his motorcycle when we graduated high school. Jax telling me Kent could go eat a bag of dicks when I told him my boyfriend wouldn’t want me on the back of another guy’s bike.

Jax parking under a shady tree and turning around to plant a fierce kiss on my lips that, if I thought too long on it, still made my panties wet.

I shook my head to get rid of the heat between my legs as I ran my orders. That had been a long time ago when we were just kids. Things had changed too much. Jax was in a biker gang, and I was a mother. Our lives were opposites in every way, and I wasn’t willing to expose my son to more violence than what he already knew.

Which was already too much for his six years.